Thursday, April 18, 2013

Inking On Transparencies: Mother's Day Card Tutorial.

Happy Thursday!
Is it just me or is this week flying by! I asked our Facebook fans this week...

"If you all could have an endless supply of one craft item, what would it be?"

One reader's response: TIME! (so true!)

Speaking of time...it's about that time to start thinking about MOM! Mother's Day is May 12th, and it will be here before you know it! Here is the Mother's Day Card I will show you all how to make today using StazOn Opaque Ink and a transparency!

Growing up in a family that celebrates everything, mother's day is a BIG deal! This mother's day is especially exciting. My sister Amy was due with a baby girl a few days ago and is expecting her to arrive any day now. Amy is the last and final sister to have a child so this is the very first mother's day where all 4 of us girls are mothers (plus our mom)!This means I have a lot of cards to make, so let's get to it...

For this card I started with an A4 standard card size in Kraft Cardstock. I added a coral pattern rectangle to the base of my card and then rounded the bottom two corners. I then added a mint green rectangle using Silhouette Adhesive Backed Paper. This stuff rocks and I love that you don't need adhesive. It's like a big sticker!

For a few weeks now, I have been playing around with StazOn Opaque Inks and have fallen in love! I have one of each of the Opaque colors by my favorite two are the Mellow Mint and Blush Pink! StazOn Ink is a solvent-based ink designed for decoration on non-porous surfaces such as glass, metal, shrink plastic, aluminum foil, leather and so much more!

I used the Blush Pink Ink and stamped a flower onto a Transparent sheet. Before stamping, I cut my transparency down to a rectangle size just slightly taller (height) than my mint rectangle on the card and the same width. I used this piece as an overlay on my card to add dimension.

The Ink is "Opaque" so is slightly see through. For a more solid stamped image you may want to stamp once, let it dry, and then stamp again. TIP: When stamping on the transparency, don't push to hard or your stamp will slip and slide around and smudge.

With the right reflection the flower really pops and looks beautiful. I added some Doodlebug White Fancy Frills boarders to the top and bottom edges of my rectangle. I chose a boarder thick enough to add some pop up dimensional adhesive behind it without it showing.

Using my Megan Elizabeth Adhesive Foam, I cut 4 very skinny strips and added them to the corners of my rectangle transparency (behind the boarder). This way, you can pop up my rectangle without seeing the adhesive through the transparency.

I also added one large Doodlebug Jewel to the center of the flower for some extra sparkle!

Not to toot my own horn, but the end result was beautiful and totally unique! The mix of pattern, sparkle and dimension on the card really worked well together. The biggest challenge with this card was making sure the adhesive did not show through the transparency.

I truly believe every mother, and woman for that matter, should be celebrated! As a mother myself, I know that the love and compassion as a mother is unlike anything else. This Mother's Day, make sure to show the mom in your life compassion and thanks. The best kind of gift is one made from the heart, so this mother's day, make and create a special card for the mom in your life! (Like this one!)